Butterflies
by Bladam-Shevine
Summary: Peter had heard that alcohol was used as a coping mechanism by some people, but could he even get drunk with his increased metabolism? Peter was about to find out how using alcohol to calm his nerves was a very, very bad idea- especially while at one of Tony Stark's parties. Oneshot.


"Wow, Peter! You look so handsome!" Aunt May smiled and looked her nephew up and down as the boy was getting ready.

Peter ignored May's comments and continued fumbling with his tie. Tonight was an important night for the teen. Tony Stark was throwing a huge, extravagant party and the reason for it Peter did not know. All he knew was that he received an invite from Tony Stark himself in the form of a letter, with instructions saying "to wear something nice".

Peter was really struggling with his tie, and Aunt May noticed. "Here, honey, let me help-"

"No, Aunt May, I got it!" Aunt May stepped back, giving the teen his space. She could tell he was extremely nervous, most notably by his shaking hands and pale skin.

"Peter, honey. There's no need to be nervous-"

"I'm not nervous, Aunt May!"

Peter picked up his toothbrush and attempted to squeeze the tube of mint-flavored toothpaste onto the brush, but his hands were so shaky, that he ended up dropping both items into the sink.

Peter sighed. "Okay, maybe I'm a little nervous."

May smiled. "You'll be fine, sweetheart."

Peter smiled back, but his heart fluttered as he felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his dress pants. He quickly pulled it out, to see a text from Happy illuminating across the screen.

 _I'm here kid. Hurry up._

Peter gulped. "My ride's here."

May pulled Peter into a tight embrace. "Don't be nervous. I promise, you'll be okay. I want you to have fun tonight. Now skedaddle before you're late!"

Peter returned the hug and then made his way to the front door, taking a deep breath before exiting. "Bye May!" He shouted, before making his way down the hall.

As promised, Happy was sitting outside in the expensive-looking car. Peter made his way into the back seat. Happy didn't even wait for him to put his seatbelt on, before driving away.

"We're already running late, kid. There's no time to lose."

Peter nodded.

"You look good, kid."

Peter smiled. "Thanks Happy."

The rest of the ride was silent, so Peter just stared down at his hands, fiddling his thumbs. He didn't want to show it, but he was nervous. Extremely nervous. In fact, since the events of homecoming, Peter suffered from pretty bad anxiety. He hid it well, but it didn't go unnoticed.

After Aunt May had discovered his secret double-life, she freaked out (which he totally expected). It took convincing from both Peter and Tony to let her allow Peter to keep being Spider-Man. It took a while for her to think it over, but she finally accepted- with more than a few exceptions. He had a curfew, he couldn't fall behind in school, and he had to check in with her every so often while on patrol.

Peter was grateful that his Aunt was supportive of his identity as Spider-Man, but she still worried a lot, too much for Peter's liking. She was the one to first take notice of Peter's anxiety. She insisted that he go and see a counsellor, but soon realized that he couldn't just go to a therapist and talk about his experiences related to his fight with the Vulture. So, instead May had Peter focus on natural remedies- chamomile tea, baths with Epsom salts and plenty of sleep. And Peter did notice a change, he was feeling better, but he couldn't help his overwhelming feelings of nervousness for tonight's party.

Before he knew it, Happy had stopped the car in front of the very large Avengers Base. Peter looked outside the car window and could hear the music blasting, and it wasn't because of his super-enhanced hearing. Peter stepped out of the car and followed Happy towards the large building. After being patted down by security, he made his way towards the elevator, only to notice that Happy wasn't following.

"Are you not coming?"

"Nah, kid. These Stark parties get a little bit too wild for me. I'm sitting this one out."

Peter laughed and waved goodbye to the man, before stepping into the elevator. As the doors shut, Peter closed his eyes and breathed deeply. His heart was pounding and he had the familiar feeling of butterflies in his stomach. _You're okay Peter, you got this._

It felt like forever before the elevator reached the designated floor, and Peter stepped out to be greeted by a room full of loud and drunken people. He made his way through the crowd, looking for the familiar face of Tony Stark, but the billionaire found him first.

"Pete! You made it!" The man exclaimed, making his way over to the teen.

"Yeah, Mr. Stark! I wouldn't miss it!"

"Please, kid. Call me Tony here. Mr. Stark makes me sound kinda dated."

Peter laughed and nodded. "Okay Mr- I mean, Tony."

Tony then grasped the boy by his shoulder, leading him towards the other side of the room. "Let me introduce you to some of my colleagues!"

They made their way to the bar, to be formally introduced to none other than Natasha Romanoff and Dr. Bruce Banner.

"Hey Tony! Who's the kid?" Bruce asked.

"Bruce, Nat, this is Peter."

" _This_ is Peter!? But he's so young!" Natasha exclaimed, with shock evident all over her face.

"You-uh-you know who I am?" Peter asked, surprised at the recognition.

"Yeah, um, sorry kid, but there really are no secrets after helping out the Avengers. These guys know that you're Underoos, but they've made a vow not to tell anyone."

"Yeah, Peter. You're secret is safe with us." Bruce said.

Natasha poured herself a drink from bar and proceeded to take out another glass. "What's your poison, Peter?"

"Well, I-uh…"

"Nat, he's clearly not 21 yet…" Bruce said, while eyeing the teen.

"Aw c'mon Brucey! The kid can have one or two drinks! I had my first drink when I was way younger than fifteen."

"I'm sixteen now actually, Mr. Stark-Tony. My birthday was a couple weeks ago."

Tony's face lit up with a smile. "See!? Now we have an excuse to celebrate! It's the kid's belated birthday!"

Natasha smiled and poured a scotch, then slid it over to Peter. "Drink, enjoy."

Peter happily took the drink, and downed it, only to start coughing immediately as the drink burned his throat. Tony slapped him on the back as Bruce and Natasha laughed.

"I've never actually had a drink before… Aunt May is pretty strict with alcohol."

"Well kid, you're under my guardianship right now, and you're here to celebrate, so I say- enjoy yourself! But don't expect me to be holding your hair back as you puke."

Natasha handed Peter a beer, which he gratefully accepted. "You'll like this, it goes back easier than the scotch."

Peter took a sip and nodded. "Yeah it's pretty good."

His attention was drawn away by someone calling Tony's name from the other side of the room. "Ah, alas, I am needed elsewhere. I'll see you later, kid."

"Wait, you're leaving?" Peter said, feeling the sensation of butterflies swarming in his stomach once more.

"Yeah, sorry kid. I have to go meet some more party-goers. Enjoy yourself." Tony said, patting Peter on the shoulder before walking over to the voice that had called his name.

Peter sighed and looked down at the bottle in his hand. He liked being around Tony. It made him feel less nervous in social situations where he didn't know that many people. Sure, Dr. Banner and Natasha seemed nice, but he still didn't know them as well as he knew Tony. Peter sat there silently, only somewhat listening to the conversation between the two Avengers beside him. His hands were feeling clammy and his heart was racing. His anxiety was overwhelming him as he became very aware of how alone he felt in this room full of strangers. He hadn't noticed that he was being spoken to.

"Peter?"

He looked up to meet the eyes of Dr. Banner.

"Oh, sorry, what was that?"

"I was just asking if you were enjoying school."

"Oh yeah! I love school! In fact, I'm a big science geek, and I've read all your research papers, Dr. Banner! I'm a huge fan!"

Peter realized he was beaming and tried to tone his excitement down. His face turned red with embarrassment thinking he made a fool of himself in front of one of his favorite scientists.

"Well I'm glad to hear that you like my work!" Bruce said, but was then approached by a man asking to speak to him and Natasha. They waved goodbye to Peter, who was left alone in his seat at the bar. He went to take another sip of his beer, but realized that somehow he had finished it within that short period of time. He reached across the table to grab another bottle.

 _I'm definitely going to need more than just 2 drinks if I want these butterflies to go away…_ He thought to himself.

 _Can I even get drunk?_ Peter vaguely wondered. Parts of his powers were increased metabolism and increased healing… but that didn't mean he couldn't get drunk, right? It would probably take a lot… And Peter was about to find out how much.

It was approximately an hour and a half later and Peter found himself sitting alone on a couch in the corner of the big room. Nobody seemed to know that this corner existed. Peter had… a lot of alcohol in his system. He lost count after the 10th or so beer.

The important thing was though that he was feeling good. There were no butterflies in his stomach, no shaking hands, no anxious thoughts, he just felt… at ease for once. But, Peter was drunk. Very, very drunk. And for once, he was happy that nobody else was around, especially not Mr. Stark.

His head swam as he tried to focus on his surroundings, but couldn't.

"Hey kid! There you are!"

 _Crap. It was Tony._

"Why are you hiding out all the way over here?"

Peter tried to shift his gaze to the older man, but the room was spinning. Tony must've noticed too, as he sat down next to the teen, a worried expression plastered on his face.

"Kid, you alright?"

Peter nodded his head, but the movement made him dizzy.

"You're definitely not alright."

"-M fine Mister Stark…" Peter managed to get out, though he had trouble finding the correct words.

Tony rolled his eyes. "You're not fine. You're drunk. How much have you had to drink?"

"I dunno… 13 or so beers maybe?"

He saw Tony smirk. "Jesus kid. I'm surprise you're not suffering from alcohol poisoning right now. Mind you, given your powers-"

Tony's words were cut out as Peter felt black spots clouding his vision. He tried to shake it off, but they wouldn't disappear. _Okay, so my question from earlier was answered, I'm still very capable of getting drunk…_

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand waving in front of his face. "Hey kid? You still with me?"

Peter wanted to say yes, he was still coherent, but unfortunately his state of consciousness didn't last too much longer and he felt the room tilting. The last thing he remembered was the painful feeling of his head hitting the floor, and the worried shout of "Peter!" Coming from the mouth of Tony Stark.

Tony almost didn't know how to react when he saw the young teen take a swan dive off the couch and onto the floor below him. Of course, his first instinct was to laugh, but given his concern for the kid he instead got off his spot on the couch and kneeled beside the unconscious Peter. He him over onto his back and put his head to his mouth, to listen for breathing. _C'mon kid, I do not want to have to give you mouth-to-mouth right now._

Much to his satisfaction, Peter was still breathing, though the breaths sounded like short, agonized gasps for air.

Tony hadn't even noticed the added presence beside him until he looked up and saw Bruce kneeling on Peter's other side. "What happened?" He asked, while grabbing the teen's wrist and checking for a pulse.

"H-he just collapsed! I think it was all the alcohol!" Tony stammered out. _God, he was nervous. How was he supposed to explain this to the kid's aunt?_

As Bruce was checking for signs of injury, Peter's eyes fluttered open. Realizing he was on the floor, he panicked, but Tony held him down.

"It's okay, kid, you're fine. You just passed out."

Peter groaned and shut his eyes.

As Bruce was asking questions to Peter, Tony looked up and saw that a crowd had gathered around them. "Hey Bruce… How about we move Peter to another room?"

Bruce also looked up, noticing the hundreds of pairs of eyes fixated on the scene in front of them. "Yeah, good idea." He reached down and wrapped Peter's arm around his shoulder, Tony doing the same with his other arm. Together, they led the inebriated teen out of the room and took the elevator down to the medbay, where Bruce could give a proper examination. As they walked Peter kept insisting he was fine and just needed to go to bed, but Tony quickly shut him up. "Sorry kid, but I'm ordering you to be checked out. Can't have you dying on my watch since your aunt entrusted me with you."

When they arrived, the two men set Peter down on one of the empty beds. Bruce made his way to the sink to grab a glass of water. "Here." He said, handing it to Peter. "Drink this."

Peter gratefully took the cup and chugged the water. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was.

"Peter, I'm just going to run a few simple tests, okay?" He said, while wrapping a cuff around the teen's shoulder.

Peter nodded as the doctor continued to take his blood pressure. "Have you eaten today?"

"Not since lunch."

"And you've had a lot to drink?"

Peter nodded once more.

"Tony tells me you have advanced healing… I can already tell you're beginning to sober up. But even for somebody with powers like yours… You shouldn't be drinking that much, it could be dangerous, fatal even." Peter looked down to the floor, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry."

Bruce patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay. I'm just going to go run and grab my blood sugar kit, it's in my medical bag upstairs. Tony will you watch him for a sec?"

"Sure thing, Brucey."

As soon as the doctor left the room, Peter sighed and covered his face with his hands.

"Mr. Stark, I'm so sorry. I ruined your party, and I made a fool of myself, Oh God, I'm such an embarrassment I'm so sorry…"

Tony grabbed the boy by the wrists, and stood directly in front of him, forcing eye contact. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not mad, I'm just worried."

"I shouldn't have drank that much."

"No, you shouldn't have, and I shouldn't have let you drink either. I should've been keeping a better eye on you."

"I really am sorry, Mr. Stark, it's just sometimes when I'm around a lot of people, I get anxious, and then you left and I thought a couple drinks would make me feel better… But a couple of drinks don't do anything to me so I got carried away-"

"Woah kid, slow down!" Tony interrupted. "What are you talking about? You have anxiety?"

Peter's face reddened as he realized what he said. "Well, uh, technically, yeah…"

Tony frowned. "You could've told me, kid. It's nothing to be ashamed of, in fact, I have anxiety too."

Peter looked up, shocked. "You do?"

"Yup. And I know about the whole 'drinking away your problems' thing. It feels right in the moment, but trust me, kid, it's not something you want to make a habit into."

"This was my first time using alcohol to cope, and trust me Mr. Stark, it's something I'm not planning on doing again."

Tony laughed. "Glad to hear that. But, listen to me. Peter, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here, okay? Don't think that just because I'm a famous billionaire and superhero I won't have time for you. Just call me or shoot me a text any time you feel overwhelmed like that again."

Peter smiled. "Thank you, Tony."

Bruce came back at that moment with his medical bag in hand. After running another check on Peter's vitals, he determined he was okay to go. The three men made their way into the hallway.

"I really ought to be heading home now. Aunt May doesn't like me staying out late…"

Tony shook his head. "I texted your aunt as soon as Natasha handed you that first beer. I told her that you're going to spend the night here so that you wouldn't have to worry about having a ride home. But, I actually figured I'd make up an excuse for you to stay here so she wouldn't smell the alcohol on your breath as soon as you stumbled into your apartment. "

Peter laughed. "Your saving your own ass, knowing she'd kill you if she found out you let me drink."

Tony laughed too. "Well, I think you've had enough partying for the night. I'll show you to the guest room."

They waved goodbye to Bruce and walked towards the elevator, with Tony's hand clamped around Peter's shoulder. Peter was glad that someone understood his feelings, and Tony was just happy that the kid was alright.

Now that Peter knew that even he had a limit (and the effects of surpassing such limit), he vowed to never drink again… At least, not until he's 21.


End file.
